Your 2010 Toolbox For Building An Online Business, Blog, Community And Presence

NOTE: This is an extension of a post that began here… 2010: A New Economy, A New Marketplace And A Need For A Presence Online

In 2010 we will no doubt see an even stronger push for both a business and personal presence online.  In our new economy we have little choice but to stake our claim online or face being left behind by the rest of the business world.  As you’ve already read in the linked post from above, our recent economic woes have pushed forward this natural shift to an online marketplace and a thriving Internet community.  With ’09 we were faced with the shock of this shift, but in 2010 we are poised for prosperity if we have the right tools in our arsenal.

Starting with the basics and then moving to more advanced advice, I’d like to share with you the tools I have found to be invaluable as I’ve made my move online.  Starting from scratch in the summer of ’08 and making a full time living online less than a year later, I used these tools to help turn a dream of greater independence into a reality.  So I hope you find this information useful as you too pursue your online endeavors.

The “Stuff”

Just like any endeavor, moving online requires the obtaining of “Stuff”.  Let me lay out my favorites and let you know why I like this “Stuff” so much.

Hosting: Hosting is thankfully fairly cheap these days and most of us can get by with the basic shared plans offered by most any hosting company.  These plans usually provide near unlimited space, bandwidth and domains and reliability to boot.  I’ve been using Hostmonster for years now and have been nothing but pleased with them.  Their up-time is excellent, customer service impeccable and the overall speed of their servers seems well above average.  I’ve never run into a single bit of incompatibility between my Hostmonster server and anything WordPress (or anything else for that matter).  You can read more about my opinions about Web Hosting if you’d like, but in short, I’ve worked with many different hosts and have yet to find one I prefer over Hostmonster.

Domains: A domain is just the name/location of our website (ie. frugalTheme.com) and can be had for $10 per year or less.  The most popular place to purchase a domain is GoDaddy as this allows you a centralized location to house your growing list of site names (and believe me they will be growing, whether now or in the near future).  GoDaddy gives the user a full spread of powerful domain options and therefore should be strongly considered.  I house some of my domains at GoDaddy, but have actually preferred leaving my main ones with Hostmonster.  Having both the domain and hosting reside with the same company can be a double edged sword, but I prefer it none the less.

Website Software: There are many great options out there when it comes to website software.  Free programs that easily install on our servers and allow us to quickly create and launch a professional presence online.  Some have more options while others tend to be more user-friendly.  But the one that seems to hit the sweet spot for most (and certainly myself) is WordPress.  Super easy to master on the backend, yet powerful and flexible with tons of great support.  I believe I speak for many when I say that WordPress is a huge blessing to those who want to spend more time building their online presence and less time building their website.

WordPress Themes: Now you knew this was coming.   Seriously, though, the skin of your WordPress website is just as important as any other piece to this puzzle.  Having a powerful, well built WordPress theme can really give you an edge in finding success online.  Now you know I develop and sell my own, so of course I’m going to recommend frugal, but I have no problem saying that there are TONS of great themes out there (both free and Premium) that can provide you with what you need to build a successful business, blog and/or community.  So whether you buy a copy of frugal or find that perfect fit elsewhere, be sure not to settle when it comes to your theme.  First impressions are a powerful thing and making a good one is absolutely crucial!

WordPress Plugins: When WordPress and your theme don’t provide an option that you want or need, look no further than the plugin section of WordPress.org.  Find what you need to address your issue and go about your way.  Just be careful not to get too plugin happy as you’ll start to bog down your site and make it a chore to move from one page to the next.  You can learn more about some useful plugins here and here.

Newsletter Software: Capturing a continued connection with your audience is key when seeking success online.  We see it all the time (even on this very website) where someone offers some free content for the visitor’s email address.  I used to think this was cheesy, or somehow tacky, but quickly realized that it was not only NOT tacky (you’re providing the visitor with useful free information), but it was a powerful tool that couldn’t be ignored.  There are very few ways to more effectively connect than through old fashioned email and no better way to capture this valuable resource than with Aweber.  I’ve been using Aweber for about 6 months now and have been nothing but pleased with it.  The setup is easy and it just does what it says it will do.  You can find cheaper offerings out there, but I truly that with newsletter software (like many other things) you get what you pay for.

Feedburner: If you have a blog you’re going to want to give your readers a way to subscribe.  The simple answer to this need is Feedburner by Google.  Signup, add your RSS and Email subscription links to your blog (did I mention frugal provides simple options to add these to your WordPress website.. and you’re good to go.

Social Media

Creating an effective presence online can be a challenge in and of itself, but adding a million different social profile possibilities does nothing but complicate the situation.  My suggestion is to just start with one or two avenues and then go from there.  Twitter and Facebook are good starting points as they are the most popular (Facebook is by far the most popular of the bunch, but Twitter is quickly growing and provides an means of simple connection that even Facebook falls short with).

There are many different things to talk about when teaching someone how to use these powerful programs, but the most important thing is to note the benefit of both being yourself and yet maintaining mindful communication.  We don’t want to be fake, but creating an effective online presence, one which will draw potential customers and followers, requires that we do more than chat about our random musings.  Providing useful information and insight, things that others truly benefit from, is a crucial habit to create.  I’m not suggesting that chatting with friends on Twitter will hurt your reputation or chances for online success, but doing nothing BUT chat about will most certainly be of no benefit.

A Continued Source Of Information And Inspiration

There are many great websites out there that provide both up-to-date information on those need-to-know concerns of the Cloud as well as thought provoking inspiration to keep pushing forward with our goals and dreams.  I’d suggest taking some time to search for such websites and then keep their bookmarks handy as you’ll most certainly need to reference then along the way.

The Rest Of The Story

The above information should give you most of what you need to succeed in terms of logistics, but the rest is really a matter of perseverance, flexibility and a willingness to learn new things all the time.  Just like anything worth achieving, online success almost never comes easy.  I’ve worked my freaking butt off for the last 17 months and have pushed past many times of serious discouragement.  I’ve tried many different avenues and constantly kept my mind open to new ideas.  Much of it has been a struggle, but worth every stinking second!

Here’s a few tips I’ve found invaluable:

• Make friends where you can and build your network of social connections whenever possible. You need a close friend or two who you can truly trust.  This is someone you may one day partner with on a project.  This is a valuable commodity to say the least.  I’ve had a blogging buddy since shortly after I started and it has been one of the keys to my growing success.
• Never put all your eggs in one basket. It’s too easy to focus all our attention on one possibility for online success.  The danger here is that if/when this goal fails to pan out we having nothing else to fall back on.  Discouragement sets in and we risk giving up all together.  I always try to keep one or two other projects on the back burner.  There’s always more than one way to achieve our goals and always having a few options to choose from can keep us moving in a positive direction.
• Live a great life offline. Once you stop enjoying your family, your hobbies and taking care of your mind and body while not connected to the Internet, you’ve lost.  Even if you do find success online it will have been for nothing.
• Keep trying different things until you find what works. If you need to make money online and it’s just not happening with your current venture, set it aside and try something new.  I bounced around from creating blog content with ads, to writing ebooks, to designing websites to developing WordPress theme software (and then some) and learned something new along the way as well as found what worked for me.  Now I benefit from all of the above and continue to try my hand at other possibilities.
• Never give up and always have fun whenever possible. These are the two most repeated tips for most any venture out there.  But this is only because they are universal truths to success in life.  The second you decide to stop is the beginning of your failure.  The moment you find no more enjoyment is the second your goal has become worthless.

2010 Is Whatever You Make Of It

I hope the very best for you in 2010 and know that each one of us has the ability and opportunity to flourish.  It’s now just a matter of deciding it’s time to make things happen and stick with it until the very end.  The posts I have provided should give you a solid foundation to stand on, but in the end it’s really up to you.

Happy New Year!

Eric Hamm